The Good Samaritan
by Kaze and Kiba
Summary: While Sasuke was away taking revenge for his family someone was taking care of things at home without permission. The problem now is the Hokage was protecting whoever had done it and he wanted to know why. And why was Sakura afraid of facing him? rated T
1. Chapter 1 Tuesday Nights

I do not own Naruto

The Good Samaritan

Chapter 1 Tuesday Nights

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She only came there on Tuesday nights.

After the grind of the hospital rounds and when she wasn't on some sort of mission. She always had Wednesdays off so she stayed into the early morning hours before going home and sleeping peacefully. She had been coming here for five years.

Ever since he left.

She started doing it for him, she supposed, but it had changed somewhere along the way. It had become a sort of mission for the girl. A way of saying goodbye to a friend, of showing respect for his departed family, brutally murdered before their time. The simple acts of cleaning, repairing and packing stuff away had been a balm on her wounded soul. The first year she had snuck in to work on the houses of the compound, but then she had been caught and brought before the Hokage, who happened to be the woman who had taken on her training in the absence of her team mates.

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~*Flashback-4 years ago*~

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"Sakura, why are you doing this?" Tsunade had questioned her.

The young girl simply shrugged, not knowing how to explain.

"It's all I can do for him," she plainly states.

The Hokage had gone and witnessed for herself after she had been told her student was breaking into the Uchiha compound. She had expected maybe the girl was taking mementos of her childhood crush. What she had found was a different story altogether.

The young girl had been cleaning in the time she'd been sneaking into the Uchiha compound. She had scoured every drop of blood and gore from not only her team mate's house, but every house on the compound. There was still evidence of the massacre, broken doors, furniture, and such, but as far as Tsunade herself could see, not a drop of blood remained from the mindless slaughter.

Ten great houses in all, each having a large family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents and children, all dead save one. The amount of bloodshed had been so horrendous that the Third Hokage had even considered simply having them burned down. If it hadn't been for the remaining Uchiha, Sasuke, he certainly would have. Tsunade had gone over house after house with Haruno's former sensei, Hatake Kakashi, and both had been speechless at the amount of work done by one little teenage girl.

They had argued at first, about whether to let her continue or not, but Hatake had convinced her it was cathartic for the young girl. Tsunade took his opinion seriously. After all, her own parents had died in the Sound invasion, and along with herself, he was the now the closest thing to a parent she had. He argued this was no different than cleaning a grave or standing at the memorial as he did almost daily. In fact he insisted, it was probably better, both for Sakura, and if the boy ever returned, her teammate and friend. The village elders had wanted his bloodline back again. How hard would it be for him to come home to that nightmare? She wasn't flaunting what she did, it was done in secret, and even Anbu investigation had proven she hadn't taken anything from the estate but garbage.

Tsunade had finally given in. She had called a nervous Sakura into her office and told the kunochi that even though she didn't like her dishonesty, her motives, she believed, were pure. She then gave her the choice of taking on the restoration of the Uchiha compound as an unpaid, solo, class D secret mission.

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**4 years later**

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It had been a tremendous amount of work. She smiled as she closed up yet another of the Uchiha houses on the compound. Except for a bi-annual dusting out, this house was acceptable to lock-up.

The first year had been the hardest. The dried blood and gore wasn't even the worst of it to her mind. After all she was a ninja and training medic, she had seen plenty of gore, and it hadn't even smelled that bad.

Then came the first day she had walked into one of the kitchens about two months after she began her project.

The faint smell of rot had puzzled her, until she had walked into the kitchen storage area. She had opened up a potato bin and had to run back outside to vomit. The smell of slimy, putrid potatoes turning to liquid was absolutely revolting and that was not even one of the worst foods. She never knew vegetables could smell so bad. She supposed it was because they had been kept in the airless bins where they rotted, but she had definitely wished the Uchiha had eaten out more.

The fish was even worse; rotten, maggot ridden and glistening with a slurry of oils and mold. She learned quickly not to eat anything for dinner on Tuesday nights or it would come back up most assuredly, and violently.

Instead she simply had a large breakfast early Wednesday morning when she had finally gotten home, before going to bed. Other food stuffs, things that were preserved or canned, she had secretly donated to a local orphanage, putting the boxes outside the doors in the predawn light on Wednesday mornings.

After Tsunade had given her permission to work on the compound, she had gone through every house and taken all the children's clothes and most of their toys, leaving only the toys that looked like family heirlooms. After making sure there was no evidence of the Uchiha clan symbol on the children's clothing, those had been left on the orphanage doorstep. The marked adult clothing that had Uchiha fans on them were cut into rags for cleaning. She simply burned the part with the fans on them, it was the most respectful thing she could think to do. They should never leave the compound. The unmarked clothing she distributed to charities that could find uses for them.

Sakura never took the clothes from Sasuke's house, he wouldn't care about the relatives' clothing, but his own, she wasn't sure she should make that decision for him. What she did instead was clean and box up his family's' clothes, even Itachi's. Cleaned, and boxed, she stored in the closets of their rooms. Except for the dusting and bedding, she had left Sasuke's room untouched. She stripped the bedrooms, cleaned the futons and folded them neatly. She's scrubbed every inch of the Uchiha house but it had not been too hard. Mikoto, Sasuke's mother, had kept it spotless, it had been a point of pride with her.

The silence of the compound was like a balm to her soul. The memories of many families spoke to her as she cleaned. Flowers pressed into books with the bouquet ribbon still around them. A handmade doll found on a floor, made with such intricacy. A whimsical trinket obviously made with love, given to a mother who cherished it enough to keep it at her bedside, family photos insisted the living not forget the dead.

These last she had taken from all the houses besides Sasuke's and made them into a scrapbook for him to look at, if he ever decided to. She knew that all those faces had the possibility to draw not only a tear but a smile to her missing teammate's face. As young as he'd been, he had cared a great deal for his departed aunts and uncles and cousins, and family politics had meant nothing to him then. At the back of the book she had left blank pages in case he wanted to put his own family pictures in there. It was sad to think them all gone, but it helped to remember they had helped shape this village, good or bad, conspiracies or not, they were an important part of Konoha's history.

Into the third and fourth year of her Uchiha clean up mission she had begun repairing the broken furniture and performed general maintenance on the buildings. It had been a learning experience for her. From patching leaky roofs to the troublesome rash of broken windows she'd come upon one Tuesday.

That one had been a pain. Once she had them repaired she had gone about boarding each one so it wouldn't happen again. Then with the help of her old sensei, Kakashi, she'd developed the rumor that the old Uchiha compound was haunted. Only a brave few of the vandals had come back and she and Kakashi had seen to it, with a few henges of the more scary dead Uchiha members, that those kids wouldn't vandalize the compound, or, most likely, anyone else's house again. As she finished each house she also shut down the utilities to them. Only testing them every six months or so to make sure they still worked. Why? She wasn't really sure, it just became a habit. She kept detailed records of everything for Sasuke's uncertain return.

On the outside of the houses she'd done less. She had not much talent with gardening and she worked at night. With the Hokage's permission to use funds she's hired an old retired gardener to come in twice a month, no questions asked, to do a simple clean up of the garden like yards in the compound. She'd disguised herself when she'd hired him and shown him the request from the Hokage for his work.

She only asked the gardener to do the bare minimum for each empty house to keep it from looking un-kept. From her own pocket though, she given him an extra stipend to come one more day each month to work on Sasuke's house garden and restore it as close as possible to the way Sasuke's parents had kept it when he was a child. It was all she could afford and she'd asked him to do what he could. The man took great pride in his work, she knew. She had even seen him going extra days because, like her, he was proud to make the last living Uchiha's property look attractive and not abandoned. He had brought it back to the loveliness she'd remembered as a child. The old man had even caught some nishikigoi to place in the pond. It was such a beautiful touch. She knew the koi fish were considered lucky. They also were symbols of friendship and affection. It was a perfect touch and sometimes she came to the garden just to enjoy its beauty and serenity while she read or studied. Sometimes it seemed as if the departed Uchiha joined her in her silent reverie, quietly giving her their approval of what she had done for their child.

She'd never tell Sasuke of course. She'd done it for herself as well as him. Even if he never returned she felt it was the one thing, the right thing, to do for his loss. If he did return, she hoped it would sooth his soul to know he was cared for by people from home during his absence. Hopefully it would make him more comfortable to face the past and go on with his life.

She only wanted to make the tortured young man happy. If, the stoic boy she grown up with ever could be, that was. She had tried to help but knew now that he didn't need her in any way shape or form. He'd made that abundantly clear six months ago, when he and his new team tried to kill her and the rest of team seven when they had discovered him while on a reconnaissance mission. There had been another woman with him, and she'd made it clear that she belonged with Sasuke. Sasuke had said nothing, but his violent actions had spoken volumes to her. Sakura cried her last tears for him then and said her goodbyes in his garden. She was glad now her business here was nearly complete. If and when he came back he would think the Hokage had taken care of this business in his absence, and his conceited sense of self would make him believe the lie was true.

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Things you probably already know:

Nishikigoi-koi fish, bright, multi-colored fish in the goldfish family, but much larger.

See you in chapter 2-Homecoming.

K & K


	2. Chapter 2 Homecoming

Still do not own Naruto, but I'll keep you posted.

The Good Samaritan

Chapter break 2-Homecoming

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Sasuke walked into Konoha one afternoon about three months later. He and his team were escorted to the to the Anbu interrogation rooms and interviewed for hours before the Hokage herself came to release them on the promise they remain in the village until everything was sorted out and she knew where they stood. She told them they would have to reside in the Uchiha compound and Sasuke had agreed with the conditions. By the time they had arrived at the compound it was well after midnight and they simply went to sleep.

Sasuke had awoken to see his house had been immaculately cleaned. He figured the council had taken care of it in his absence to keep vandals from bringing down the neighborhood near which most of them lived. It was an affluent part of Konoha after all. The house his team was using had also been cleaned.

Sasuke was surprised the next day when an old man came to work on his garden and the properties of the compound. He came out to find the old man cleaning the koi pond.

"Good morning young Uchiha-san," The kind old man greeted him when he came into the garden.,"So nice to see this old place filled with life again," He rose and bowed and Sasuke returned his greeting.

"Sorry for your loss," the gardener sympathized.

"Thank you, sir. May I ask, is it you, who has been keeping my estate for me while I have been away?"

"Me? Oh no," he waved the idea away, "I just come to clean up the grounds a bit here and there a few days a month. It's the other one who's done all the cleaning and repairs. Must have been a mighty task too. That one's been working on it for years, far as I can tell. They are very meticulous too."

"So," Sasuke queried, "you do know the person who has been here working?"

"No sir, can't say I do," he scratched his head, "must care an awful lot for your family though."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Why do you say that?"

"Well Uchiha-san, I mean no disrespect, but seeing as they did volunteer to take care of the entire compound for a deceased clan and stowed each house so lovingly they must have cared for the family somehow. Especially seeing as how it's been a secret from the rest of the village," the old man laughed. "They even went as far as to make this place haunted for a while after some vandals had broken a bunch of windows in the houses. Won't find too many souls brave enough anymore to come into the Uchiha compound at night," the old man chuckled, "I'm Suzuki Funato, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Suzuki-san. How many days a week are you paid to come here sir?" the curious young man asked.

"Oh, Konoha pays me for two days a month and the other pays me for two more," The old man informed him.

"Four days a month and you have accomplished this?" Sasuke looked around at the lush grounds perfectly kept, "That's impossible."

"Well, I like coming so I stop by a few more here and there but I don't tell the girl because I know she would want to give me more pay, and I wouldn't want her to put herself out anymore. Besides, I like to work here, it's peaceful," He contemplated the flow of harmony in the space, "This garden feels like a happy memory."

Sasuke nodded his agreement. "Perhaps if you'd like, you could come work as the compound gardener. You could take one of the houses for your own and I'd pay you myself now that I'm home. If it is acceptable to you?"

"Why young master, that would suit me just fine. Save me a lot of walking back and forth across town on my old bones," he jested, "That be great, but can my wife come too? She's be a might upset if I left her there." The old gentleman's eyes twinkled mischievously.

Sasuke let out a grunt which, to some, could be construed as a chuckle from the serious boy. "Of course your wife is welcome. If she would like to do anything I would pay her as well. You may have her pick from one of the last three houses in the compound and call it your own for as long as you stay. I appreciate your help. If you need to hire any extra men for jobs, just let me know."

"That would be wonderful young master. I'm gonna head home right now and tell the missus. She's gonna be thrilled," he bowed respectfully and Sasuke returned the bow, " We'll be back tomorrow to see to the housing. Thank you Uchiha-san."

"You're doing me a great service, Suzuki-san." Sasuke turned to go inside and turned back when he remembered something. "Wait a minute." Sasuke stopped his storytelling gardener. "Did you say she?" The old man nodded, a sly look on his face. "If you don't know who worked on the compound then how can you tell it was a female?"

Funato grinned "Well her male henge was pretty good, I'll admit, but I never met a man who smelled so sweet as this one. Her hand expressions needed some work, much too feminine. Like she'd thrown on her disguise at the last minute, but it was her lovely scent that that gave her away, cherry blossoms," he winked at Sasuke.

The old man gave a wave as he left to give his wife the good news of their new home. She was going to be so happy to get out of that small cheap apartment they'd stayed in since he'd retired. It was a new lease on life for both of them. He made sure to close the gate as he left, looking back to see a stunned young man on the porch of his well cared home.

Sasuke went inside and opened up his office to review the books that had been kept in his absence. Someone had meticulously kept a log of each home as they were restored and the items of value found and stored. Even the food and clothing that had been donated had been accounted for, all done in neat, even, and decidedly feminine handwriting. The old man was right, it was a woman. But why had the Hokage hired only one person to clean up what had obviously been a huge mess? He pondered. Sure the bodies had been removed, but the blood and gore stains had been left. He had refused even to have the blood from his parents cleaned, it reminded him of his duty to take revenge on his brother.

Frankly, it had been a relief to see it gone upon his return. He had come home with his team, expecting to have this huge responsibility of cleaning up the entire compound of houses left to rot over the years. He owed it to his family not to just throw money at his problem. He didn't want strangers to go through his family's personal things. They wouldn't have liked it either. He was a little torn as to how the Hokage could send someone in to do the work without his permission. He appreciated it, definitely, but it shouldn't have been done. He guessed it was time to go to the source and ask Tsunade who had been allowed to do all this and why.

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"You may enter now," Shizune informed him. He thanked her quietly and opened the door to the Hokage's office.

"Make it quick, Uchiha, I have a ton of work today and very little patience."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, it has been brought to my attention that some workers had been hired in my absence to clean up the Uchiha compound and grounds," Sasuke addressed the issue directly, " I wish to know who authorized this."

"There was only one person hired to work at the property," the Godaime informed him, "Suzuki-san was his name if I recall."

"Then who supervised him and did the other work?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Uchiha-san, it didn't cost you a penny. That work was done by a…volunteer," She smirked mysteriously.

"Who would do such a thing, and for nothing?" Sasuke was skeptical.

"I can't understand it myself to tell the truth," the Hokage told him honestly, "Perhaps they were just being a good Samaritan, your guess is as good as mine Uchiha-san. They did stress however that they wished to remain anonymous.

Sasuke grunted unhappily.

"An old saying come to mind, perhaps it will help," Tsunade tested him, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, boy.'"

"I'd like the chance to thank them personally, Hokage-sama," Sasuke tried again.

"They weren't trying to impress you, Sasuke-kun," she added testily, "They were just being kind. Maybe what _you_ should do is pay the act of kindness forward and do something nice for someone else," She raised her eyebrows at him.

He tried one last angle, "Does anyone else know about the work that's been done there?"

"Yes, I consulted Kakashi when the work was discovered and he agreed on your behalf that it was best to continue the restoration of the compound."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," He turned to leave.

"He won't spill either Sasuke-kun," Tsunade assured him, as he closed the door.

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A full minute after the door closed she felt the familiar chakra uncloak itself behind her bookshelves. "I hope you've covered your tracks well Haruno," She warned.

"I have Tsunade-sama," she hoped aloud.

"Nosey Uchiha brat. Would it kill him to just do something nice for someone? Or just say thank you and go away," Tsunade worried her student had overstepped her bounds and Sasuke was going find some new way to punish her for it. Hadn't that boy done enough to torment the girl?

"Sakura, I happen to know that an important witness is up on the monument right now. Perhaps you should go make sure he keeps his mouth shut like a good little shinobi," she suggested, "Tell him it's under penalty of death from me."

Sakura smiled, "Yes, thank you shisou!" she disappeared in a whirl of cherry blossoms.

Tsunade looked at the pile of petals laying all over the floor, "Can't they ever use the damn door?"

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See you in chapter 3-No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

Please Review, Thanks

K & K


	3. Chapter 3 No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I do not own Naruto

The Good Samaritan

Chapter Break 3-No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

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When Sakura found Kakashi at Hokage Mountain he was laying in the ear of the First's head reading one of his porn mags. Sakura did a quick henge on herself to resemble Tsunade and snuck up close to him before she scolded him.

"Hatake, what the hell are you doing here!"

The lazy jounin's body jumped, sliding less then gracefully out of the ear canal, "Just supervising the kids, Hokage-sama," He laughed nervously looking around.

'Where had they got off to?' he thought.

Sakura dropped the henge giggling madly, "I think you've been abandoned sensei," She laughed even harder until he came over and hit her on the head with his book.

"Hey!" she protested, "Don't touch me with that, I don't know where it's been!"

"Would you like to?" his mask rose as his eyes smiled.

"Ew, no, stop. I have an important official message for you and time is of the essence," She had just spotted Sasuke coming out of the jounin headquarters. "Make sure you don't reveal the identity of the party who cleaned up the Uchiha compound," she eyed him seriously, "under threat of punishment of death by the Hokage. Get my meaning?"

"Crystal clear. Are you sure you don't want him to know?" he queried, "I don't think he'll be angry."

She sighed, "That part of my life is over, sensei. Whatever was done is done, and I'd like to forget about it now." He could see the finality and the sadness in her gaze. He nodded.

"Alright," he agreed, "I'm proud of you behaving so grown up Sakura-chan. You've turned into quite a well rounded adult."

"That better not be a come on, sensei," She teased him.

"I'm crushed, Sakura," the scarecrow jested. He took a step closer, placing his hand on her shoulder, and giving it a squeeze, "You can count on me."

"I always do Kakashi. See ya. I gotta go." Three quick hand signs and she seemed to turn into the petals that blew off into the wind. Kakashi resumed his test of the monuments strength by climbing back into the giant ear of rock , placing his book over his eyes. He had a feeling it wouldn't be long before someone else came to threaten him about that compound business. Maybe he could at least catch 40 winks before he plunged in again.

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Turned out his second pursuer wasn't as well informed as the first. It was a full two hours before Sasuke found his hiding spot and woke him from his nap.

"Kakashi, I've been looking for you," Sasuke monotoned.

Kakashi wondered if the Uchiha had ever put anyone to sleep with the emotionless way he talked. The boy had two settings, angry and nothing, "No one told me. What can I do for you Sasuke?"

"Tsunade says that you were the one who convinced her that someone should commence work on the Uchiha compound," He began.

"That is absolutely untrue Sasuke. I never recommended someone commence restoring the compound. I'm afraid you'll have to go talk to her again, I'm sure she got her words wrong," Kakashi sounded so seriously offended, Sasuke believed every word he said.

"Pardon me sensei. I guess I'll have to ask her again. You don't happen to know who did the work do you?" he asked.

"Sorry, can't help you out there either," he told him truthfully, "It was a rather nice thing to do though, wasn't it? Did they not treat the job with the respect it deserved? Is that what this is about?"

"No, everything is in order. I just wanted to thank them." He looked at his old teacher suspiciously, "It wasn't… you, was it?"

Kakashi could tell it was driving the young man crazy not knowing who had done the all that work. Crazy enough to ask if his lazy sensei had done the work himself. "When have you ever known me to take on work on that grand a scale and for no money? Next thing I know, you'll be asking me if Shikamaru did it." He laughed. Then he saw his MIA* workers he was supposed to be supervising. "If you'll excuse me Sasuke, I have something I have to take care of," He disappeared in a swirl of smoke and leaves followed by screams of fear and surprise from a group of kids hiding further down the Hokage pass.

Sasuke only "hn'd," confused as ever, he made his way to meet his other team, Hebi, in the training grounds.

Kakashi smiled evilly as he considered what to do with the terrified group of genin he'd caught. Maybe he should give them a break, he considered for a second. He had just caught one himself. Sasuke's misuse of words had allowed him to weasel his way into the truth. The boy had asked him if he had argued the case to commence the compound clean up, he hadn't. He'd asked Tsunade to let Sakura RE-commence the clean up after she'd been caught. It was a gross misuse of the truth on his part but it would hold up in any court he was sure. And he had told the truth later too, when he told the boy he couldn't help him, it was true. He couldn't, or else Tsunade would kill him. Good thing the boy hadn't got wise to him. Now about these kids, should he pass on his incredible luck?

Nah.

"Alright you guys, get your buckets. Instead of just cleaning up the Firsts monument you are gonna clean all five. Hope you've built up your chakra while goofing off cause your ropes won't hold your full weight if you fall. Get going. I want the monuments sparkling by the end of the day," Their groans were music to his ears.

"Do a good job and I'll treat you all to ramen." He promised. They moaned again, knowing their cheap bastard sensei would find a way to get out of his offer.

'They know me so well,' he reflected.

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A/N-Well you probably know this but just in case you don't, MIA means missing in action.

Kakashi's the best isn't he?

Next Chapter 4- Sakura's Underwear

Yep, that's what it's called, coming soon.

Thanks for reading. Thanks to rivenmist for beta-ing.

K & K.

PLEASE REVIEW.


	4. Chapter 4 Sakura's Underwear

I do not own Naruto.

The Good Samaritan

Chapter Break 4-Sakura's Underwear

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Two weeks later.

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Sasuke went to meet Naruto who was waiting impatiently at the training grounds. He had wasted almost 2 weeks looking for leads to find his mystery helper on top of dealing with family business and it had put him in quite an awful mood.

"Teme. It's about time you show up," Naruto growled.

"Dobe, I had something to do," Sasuke snapped.

"What's that?" Naruto teased, "Restoring your clan with that loud, ugly redhead you brought back?"

"No stupid," Sasuke sneered, "I wanted to find out who did the work on my compound."

"Oh, it did look good when I came over yesterday, I thought you did that."

"I left the place trashed," he explained, "exactly like Itachi had made it."

"I know! It must have been the ghost," Naruto laughed, "Your place was haunted did you hear? It was big talk for a while a couple years back."

"You didn't work on it then?" Naruto shook his head, "You don't know who did?"

"No. What's with all the interrogation, man?" the blonde knucklehead asked, "Did they steal from you or something?"

Sasuke shook his head, "Do you think Sakura would know who did it?" The thought had crossed his mind briefly that it had been her but he'd been quite cold to her the last few years. There was no way she would want to talk to him much less clean up the mess Itachi left.

"Doubtful, between hospital work and missions and Tsunade training her ass off, she doesn't have time for any fun, much less more work," he theorized, "Maybe one of your fan girls did it."

"I doubt Tsunade would let them. They would have cleaned me out."

"Yeah probably, so what's the plan now? You gonna marry the violent, ugly redhead and start popping out more ugly bastards like yourself?"

"Quit calling her ugly, and no, she's only part of my team. She was a tool to find my brother. She's good at sensing chakra energies."

"I bet she'd call you a tool too, if she heard you say that. Man, you can be cruel to women."

"Bullshit. I'm merely honest."

"Well, your honesty nearly killed Sakura-chan, you bastard. You're lucky she forgave you, or I would've killed you myself for how much you hurt her."

"Forgave me," he was surprised. "She forgave me?"

She had barely said three whole sentences to him since he'd returned. She'd greeted him, asked after his health once. The other times she had only told him that Juugo was responding well to her treatment. Hell, Juugo and Sugetsui had talked to her more than he had. Even Karen had spoken to her numerous times, of course her words had just been insults thrown at Sakura.

"She talks to you doesn't she? If she was mad at you, she'd either never speak to you or pound you to a pulp," When Sasuke chuckled at this Naruto gave him a weird look, "Haven't you seen Sakura's punch?"

"Yeah, she hits like a girl," Sasuke remembered the last time he'd seen her hit someone had been a few years back, it was nothing to be thrilled about. She'd not even taken the guy out. She's been saved by Kakashi of course.

"Dude, you've been gone a while. Don't forget she was trained by a Sanin too. Sakura-chan took out an Akatsuki with her fists. Along with half a mountain."

"Yeah?" Sasuke scoffed, "Was it you or Kakashi helping her?"

"Neither, it was her and this ancient baa-chan and the old lady died afterwards saving Gaara. Sasori used poisons during their fight. They had to fight over a hundred puppets."

"So the old bag must have been something to save Sakura."

"You got it wrong my friend. Sakura won that fight and the old lady helped her. She's a lot stronger then you think. And she can heal as well as Tsunade-baa-chan. You're too harsh on her, as always. You're making me want to kick your ass. Come on let's go fight."

"Nah. I got some stuff to take care of. I got to find out who cleaned up the compound. Let me know if you hear anything."

"Yeah, yeah. Go impregnate your creepy, obsessed, ugly redhead. I'm gonna take my beautiful Sakura-chan to lunch. She's probably feeling bad from the mean vibes you're sending to her all the time."

"Fuck off Dobe."

"Good luck finding your ghosts. Maybe your ugly redhead can channel them with her _special_ abilities," Naruto turned to leave, "With that face probably her only special ability is giving good head," he muttered as he left to find Sakura.

Sasuke heard the remark and decided to follow him. He had a few questions for Sakura too. Like, 'why the hell she'd want to eat with the Dobe?'

She kept her ear to the ground and she worked with the Hokage, maybe she would have some answers or have heard some gossip.

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Sasuke followed the clueless Dobe to Konoha hospital. They passed through the busy corridors over to the poisons lab. At the end of the hall was the lab supervisor's office. Naruto knocked once and threw the door opened like the rude blockhead he was.

There, sitting in a patch of sunlight was the girl Sasuke wanted to question. His breath caught as he saw her. She was perusing a file while sitting in a chair in her white lab coat. He is sure this is the first time he's seen her without bare feet or nin-sandals on, the black high heels showed off the shape of her calf nicely. Her hair was piled up on her head with a pencil pushed into it to keep it in place. Messy tendrils had fallen to frame her face and the backlight made them shine golden pink. Her long legs were crossed and her skirt had ridden up to mid thigh. She looked up at Naruto with a smile on her face and her eyes alight as she took off her reading glasses. It was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. She uncrossed her legs and stood up and the at last the spell was broken.

He shook his head, 'Had he just seen that? Had he just thought that?'

"Sakura-chan you look fuckin hot today. Marry me?" Naruto begged.

Sasuke had the sudden urge to chidori the Dobe's ass.

"Shut up Naruto, if Hinata heard you talking like that, it would hurt her feelings."

"Nah, she knows you were my first love. She's willing to share. Hey I know, maybe we could all…"

"Don't finish that thought if you want to keep your head." She warned, Sasuke silently agreed with her. He unmasked his chakra and stepped around some chairs and out from his hiding place behind the wall. As he watched, the smile slid from Sakura's face and her eyes turned fearful, "Sasuke-kun" she said in surprise.

"Huh?" Naruto turned around, "Teme! What'd you follow me for?" Sakura looked quickly at Naruto and back to him again, Sasuke thought she looked nervous. Like someone who was hiding something.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. I don't have time for you today," Sakura said hurriedly, "If you'll excuse me, Sasuke-kun," she dismissed them turning towards her desk.

"Come on Sakura-chan" Naruto came up in front of her, and put his arms around her, placing his hands on the pretty girls waist. Sasuke had to fight the urge to slice off the touchy-feely boy's hands that were rubbing Sakura's lower back as he cajoled her. What was the matter with him? Sasuke's hands clenched into fists to keep from following up on his murderous thoughts.

"I'm busy,"She pushed Naruto's hands down and next they clamped on her hips, pulling her into him, as he nuzzled her neck like a damn cat, "Come on Sakura. I haven't seen you in two weeks," The Dobe actually pouted at her, "Hey, it can be a team lunch, the bastard can buy, he's the rich one."

"Sasuke doesn't need to buy lunch, and I have work to do," She finally pushed the pervert away and Sasuke could breathe again. He had plans for her afternoon and maybe he could use the Dobe to get some answers from her.

"What's the matter Sakura? Doesn't your boss let you eat?" Sasuke teased.

Naruto laughed at him, "She is the boss you idiot. Come on Sakura, I'm not gonna take no for an answer," He grabbed her arm and dragged her closer, scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder. His hands were resting on the back of her thighs as she protested loudly and Sasuke's blood boiled, 'When did he become so familiar with my Sakura?' he thought angrily, 'Why the hell do I even care?'

"Put me down Naruto or I'll…"

Sasuke sat in the hall chair against the wall and watched this circus act being performed in front of his eyes. These two seemed to have gotten quite chummy in his absence.

"No," Naruto refused her demands, went two more doors down and opened another lab door. Sakura pouted much too sexily on his back, more and more of her hair falling around her face.

"Hinata!" the dobe yelled, "I'm taking Sakura-chan to lunch."

The dark hair Hyuuga beauty came to the door and smiled, "Good, she's been here at least since last night, and I know all she's had is coffee. "

"Traitor," Sakura grumbled. Wishing she had worn her shuriken holder today.

"Have a nice lunch boss. We have everything under control here. See you later Naruto." His sweetheart smiled prettily at him and he blushed, waving goodbye as she shut the door.

"Come on Teme," Naruto turned and Sasuke saw Naruto's hand planted around the inside of Sakura's creamy thigh. Her struggle had pushed her skirt up a little higher and from his vantage point he could see the curve of her ass and the sheen of her silky lace underwear.

He'd had enough.

"I never figured you for black lace Sakura" he taunted, "I always thought you'd wear white."

Naruto gave him a funny look, but his words had the desired effect. Sakura shrieked and kneed Naruto in the chest so hard he had no choice but to put her down. His hand ran up her skirt as she slid down and Naruto got to cop a truly righteous feel, as her ass slid right into his hand.

The sight of Sakura's lace covered ass in the Dobe's hand was not what he was aiming for. Cursing under his breath he quickly rose and grabbed her arm pulling her off him while he pulled down her skirt to cover her.

"I thought you always wore shorts?" Sasuke asked her.

"Yeah, when I was twelve you idiot!" she forgot who she was speaking to for a moment, "Who expects to get groped in a lab?"

"Quit worrying, it's nothing I haven't seen before." Naruto gave that shit eating grin and waggled his eyebrows, "Even Sai and Kakashi have seen Sakura nak…"

"Shut up!" Sakura gave his nipple a huge twist.

Naruto screamed, "OW OW OW! Ok! Sorry, it will never happen again Sakura-chan let go please, I promise!" she let go and he grabbed her hand pulling her along. Let's go now, you probably haven't eaten in a day or two and it's making you grumpy."

"I eat!" she insisted.

"Oh yeah? What? Besides coffee or soldier pills."

"I just had a donut for breakfast."

"What day?"

"Huh?" she looked confused.

"What day did you eat a donut?"

She quickly tried to think what day this was, "Uh,...Monday?"

"Sakura!" Naruto said angrily, "it's Wednesday. You didn't even go home last night did you? What the hell, do I gotta come babysit you everyday to make you eat and sleep? You need to get out for more missions. This labs gonna fry your brain."

Naruto went into big brother mode, "You are taking the rest of the day off. You're going to have lunch with us, then we're going to go train. Maybe we can find Kakashi and make it a threesome," He wiggled his eyebrows at her again and she smacked him upside his head, "Ow, alright, maybe this bastard here can join us too. That is, if he's not too good for us."

"Dobe," was his answer.

"Teme!" Naruto turned to fight him and Sakura pulled his hand back. "Come on, you're not gonna trash my lab. I've got important stuff in the works right now and I don't want you to mess it up. You can fight all you want after lunch," She gave Naruto that smile again. The one she used to give only to him.

'My Sakura dammit!' his head rang back at him. Well, Naruto said she's forgiven him, if that was true all he had to do was charm her and she'd be ignoring the ninja joke again in no time. He walked up to the two of them and took Sakura's free hand, "Let's go get some lunch."

He had to pull but she eventually followed wide eyed and squeezing Naruto's hand so hard he had to ask her to ease up.

'What the HELL!' her mind screamed, 'I must be hallucinating,' she thought. 'Yeah that's it; not eating for a day was playing tricks on her brain.' But when she tried to pull her hand back he only tugged harder before threading his fingers firmly into hers. There was no escaping him now. Naruto was thrilled and simply walked beside them holding her other hand and babbling nonsense.

"Oh, yeah Sakura-chan, Sasuke is looking for information on the Uchiha ghosts. Do you know anything?"

She almost fainted.

The color drained from her face so fast Sasuke pulled her closer to catch her if she fell over. She looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head, "G-ghosts? I don't know what you're talking about Naruto," Her eyes never left Sasuke's as she spoke and he could see the fear growing in them. She was hiding something. And he wasn't letting her out of his site until she spilled all her secrets.

Definitions

Dobe-dead last, loser.

Teme-You/like you bastard or you lowlife (sort of, don't quote me on that).

A/N Hey there, getting warmed up now so I had to add some silliness with Naruto of course, Konoha's number one most surprising ninja. I love making Sasuke jealous because he's so…so…what's the word, socially inept? Ahaha.

Naruto characters are fun to mess with. Hope you like the story so far. Only a few chapters left.

Next chapter 5-Crystal Clear.

Thanks for reading. K & K

The reviews have been encouraging, thanks.

What do you think? Pervy enough?

Please Review


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Hi there. Only a few chapters left. I should have them up rather quickly now that they are mostly edited. I have a very hard time writing fight scenes. (Kinda silly I guess, considering I picked a ninja anime to write about, but there it is, it's my favorite anime. I'm hoping that the more I try writing fights the better it'll get.) So fight scenes, however short they may be, take me extra long to write and this isn't even a complicated one but…I did my best. Please R & R

DNON

The Good Samaritan

Chapter Break 5

I See You.

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They found Kakashi on the way to the training grounds after lunch.

Lunch itself, would have been a disaster, if Naruto hadn't filled every second between bites with small talk. Sasuke had spent most of it giving her suspicious looks, or outright staring at her knowingly, it was freaking her out. Sakura had tried to slip again out after lunch, but they'd clamped down on her once more, she couldn't even use the transportation jutsu she had planned on using to sneak out.

Kakashi had agreed that it would do her some good to get a spar in and knock the cobwebs from her technique. Sakura had been so insulted, she told him she was gonna kick his ass, before she realized what she was saying, she was committed to go spar with them.

They stopped at her place so she could change her clothes. She probably could fight in those heels, but they were an expensive, sinful, spurge, she didn't want to scuff them up. Naruto crashed on her couch and Kakashi sprawled in the chair opening his book. Sasuke walked around and, well, snooped would be the best word, around her house. It was neat and clean for the most part but it seemed to have a layer of dust, like the place of someone who wasn't at home often.

"Teme, get me a drink while you're up," Sasuke almost refused, but it gave him a perfect excuse, to investigate more. Walking through Sakura's kitchen, he noticed the table was piled with research book, and tablets full of neat, precise writing and formulas. The spiky haired man couldn't tell for sure if Sakura had written all this or was just studying it. He didn't know her well enough to decide, but the writing did look familiar.

He opened the fridge, surprised to see there really was no food in there, only bottled water, iced tea, and a few vials that looked like Sakura had brought some experiment home from work. He grabbed the tea and opened a few cupboards to find a glass. Aside from dishes, there was a jar of peanut butter, a box of crackers, a couple packages of dried ramen, a bottle of soldier pills, and a large can of coffee. Naruto was right, she probably only ate if one of her friends made her, or she was about to drop from starvation.

By the time he handed Naruto his tea Sakura was coming down the stairs to join them. She had changed to those familiar black shorts. Instead of the long dress she used to wear she sported a tight, faded red t-shirt with the Haruno family symbol across the back. Her messy topknot has been replaced with a pony tail. If it wasn't for the soft curve of hips and breast she would have looked twelve again.

"Naruto, you probably don't want to drink that," she cautioned, "I can't remember when I made it, but has probably been in there more than a month. The water is safer to drink."

"Sakura-chan, you're too skinny," Kakashi stood and poked her in the ribs, "Jeez, you need to gain some weight," he complained, "how you gonna keep the Akatsuki at bay if you don't have any strength. One strong wind, you'll blow away."

"I've got enough strength to kick your ass old man," She poked him in the chest before turning to the door.

Kakashi yanked on her pony tail, pulling her back into his chest, "We'll see about that little girl," he warned quietly in her ear.

'When had these two started getting all touchy feely?' Sasuke thought, a little annoyed? Next he expected to see that cold fish Sai hugging up on his Sakura too.

They made their way to the training grounds, passing more threats and smack talk around. All the while smiling like they were all going to a party or something. Sasuke was getting more peeved the closer they got. The other members of team 7 were a little too friendly, and when had they seen Sakura naked and why the hell wasn't she still mad about it? By the time they reached the training grounds he had decided he didn't want to spar with Naruto anymore.

Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate and motioned for Sakura to follow him.

"You use the sharingan against Hurano?" he asked, Kakashi nodded.

"I'll spar with Sakura today then," Sasuke offered. Kakashi raised his eyebrow and acquiesced only saying, "No sword, no chidori, she's not Naruto," Sasuke agreed.

Sakura's eyes widened when Sasuke stepped before her. She turned to see Kakashi leading Naruto further into the grounds, leaving the trees for them to fight in, "I thought you were sparring with Naruto?"

"Are you afraid to fight me?" he mocked her.

The kunochi's eyes glared indignantly, "Watch what you say Uchiha or I won't feel like healing you after your beating," she returned.

He smirked, she bowed to him. As she straightened she smiled and her form turned to flower petals before blowing off into the wind.

His eyes bled to red, 'She's trying to use a genjutsu against me?' he sniffed. "Ridiculous," He muttered.

"What's that Uchiha-san?" she asked from behind him.

He twisted to the right, narrowly avoiding her fist as he knew he would. However, he did not expect her to continue her arc into the ground and the subsequent earth tremor that forced him to back off as the ground opened beneath him.

She jumped for the trees to try hiding from him before attacking again but she was too slow.

He grabbed her from behind, wrapping one arm around her middle, "Give up?"

She pushed chakra into her elbow and shoved it back into his ribs forcing him to release her as he felt his ribs crack. She jumped into the cover of the trees.

She knew she had to be moving to keep from being caught by the sharingan. What he didn't know was she'd had the advantage of training with Kakashi's sharingan many times, so he wouldn't catch her so easily and if she landed one good punch on him using her enhanced chakra strength the fight would be over.

Uchiha was pissed. She had actually forced him to retreat. His chest hurt when he drew a breath but it wouldn't hinder his fighting, once he captured her with his sharingan he was going to make her pay. The only problem was, she knew enough not to fight him directly and she kept hiding in the trees, only coming out to swing once before she returned to hide.

As time wore on he was getting tired of her little cat and mouse game and finally decided it was time to end it. He was scanning the trees with his sharingan and almost missed her as she came bursting up from the ground fist first, missing him by a hair, he could feel the intense chakra coming off her fist.

He wasted no time, kicking her leg and knocking her to the ground before falling on her. Before Sakura could blink he trapped her in his sharingan genjutsu. He smirked at her, knowing he had won as she struggled ineffectually against his arms inside the genjutsu.

"Don't bother fighting it Sakura," her captor advised, "I'm not letting you go until you answer some questions."

'Shit,' she freaked, 'This was his plan the whole time,' the kunochi surmised. 'He's going to find out the truth and then he'll kill me,' she thrashed about more violently.

"Do you know who restored the Uchiha compound?"

As she panicked her inner voice spoke to her, telling her to be calm and give nothing away.

"Well?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She tried to look away from his face but she couldn't break free from the red eyes of the genjutsu. To anyone watching it appeared as neither had moved from the spot they landed on the ground but in the genjutsu she still struggled and he sat on her smirking about his victory.

He slammed her arms into the ground and two black snake-like ropes came up and wrapped around her arms, freeing up his hands. Now that she was hopelessly trapped, it was time to rattle her cage.

"Why did Kakashi and Sai and the Dobe see you naked?"

She stopped struggling, "…huh? What does that have to do with…"

"Just tell me. What is that, your new bonding exercise? You all seem pretty friendly," His face darkened with wrath as he spoke, "They are always touching you."

"That's not true. They're just kidding around. You wouldn't understand... It was a…um…"

"So you wouldn't mind if I… well, I am part of team seven," he purred "and it would be wrong of you to leave me out," His hand went to the bottom of her faded red shirt, pulling it up.

At first he only meant to scare her, make her answer his earlier questions but his mind was telling him that only he, not anyone else, should be seeing her naked, he was royally pissed that the rest of them had, even the Dobe. She'd always, damn it, always been his Sakura. He lifted the worn shirt further, revealing the bottom curve of her breasts that were wrapped, 'Like a gift' he reckoned darkly.

"S-S-Sasuke!" she cried.

"Afraid?" he smirked.

"NO!" she growled and he placed his other hand on the soft skin of her flat abdomen. A sharp wave of heat sheared through her. "S-s-stop, please?" She stammered, her face blushing prettily.

"Tell me who restored the Uchiha compound?" He ground his hips into hers. The young man's breath quickened, seeing her spread beneath him, wild, flushed, and begging was turning him on. Sasuke was supposed to be flustering her into a confession, but the feel of her smooth skin and her hips beneath him were causing his blood to heat up as well. If Sakura didn't give him an answer soon he was going to have to stop before he gave in to his baser desires and molested her right here, in his genjutsu.

Sakura opened her mouth, ready to spill her secret if he would let her go.

'Oh, Hell NO!' Sakura's inner self finally broke through her subconscious, and like a hot knife through butter, sliced cleanly through his genjutsu. The kunochi finally free, literally bucked her hips into him, throwing him up off her and hastily did the hand signs for transportation jutsu.

"This battle's over Sasuke," the pink haired girl promised as she disappeared in a hail of cherry blossom petals only to reappear with her foot already swinging through the flowers to kick him in the ribs she cracked earlier, "Shannaro!" she yelled, as she connected breaking the bones.

Real pain blossomed in his chest this time. Sasuke was forced to relinquish the match before he ended up in the hospital with a punctured lung.

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Reviews appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6 Crystal Clear

I do not own Naruto.

The Good Samaritan

Chapter Break 6-Crystal Clear

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"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted happily from behind her, "You beat the bastard!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, "I went easy on her."

"She broke through your sharingan. We both saw it. Right Kakashi?"

Sakura looked at Naruto, "From the looks of things you also lost Naruto."

Kakashi nodded, opening his favorite book.

"Lucky punch," Naruto declared, "same as the bastard. Let's go eat!"

"I have to fix Sasuke's ribs," Sakura said walking over to where he sat on a rock glaring at Naruto and Kakashi.

"You didn't tell me you taught Sakura to break through sharingan," he accused. She had caught him by surprise.

"You didn't ask," Kakashi told him, "and I didn't, she figured it out herself. She's the only one I know besides an Uchiha, or me, who can," He told him proudly."

Sakura blushed as she put her glowing hand to Sasuke's ribs.

"How did you do that?" he asked her.

"Tch," she scoffed, "like I'd tell you my secrets."

"You will," he said so softly only she could hear. She shivered and her healing chakra wavered, giving him a twinge. The warm chakra pouring into him felt soothing, like a lovers touch and he had to physically stop himself from reaching up and brushing her bangs out of her face, or wanting to place his hand on her cheek. He shook his head to clear it and she looked up worriedly.

"Am I hurting you? Sorry, I can fix that" she said quickly and pumped more chakra into his system. It felt so good he groaned softly, "Do you need more?" she asked. He shook his head, the extra healing chakra had him feeling… euphoric.

"You should bottle that," he said.

She laughed at the very unexpected praise, "I think that is the first time you've ever complimented me Sasuke-kun."

"I should let you break my bones more often," he almost smiled back at her.

"Yes, a shot of chakra induced endorphins is almost like a shot of morphine."

"I wonder if that can be used in other situations," Kakashi mused.

"As if I'd do that, you pervert," she shot back an angry glare at him.

"Now don't be hasty Sakura-chan. We must always consider the other uses for special techniques, take the field of espionage," he was pulling up his hitai-ite, revealing his sharingan, "if you showed me your technique I could use it to retrieve information from-"

"Forget it you dirty old man, I'm not getting you off with my chakra," Sakura growled pulling her hands back from Sasuke's newly healed ribs. He already missed the warmth as her chakra quickly dissipated from his system.

"I'm hungry," Naruto whined, feeling neglected, "Ne, Sakura-chan, let's go on a date," He teased pulling her from where she'd kneeled next to Sasuke, "I'll buy you dinner."

"Naruto," she warned, "You already have a date with Hinata, remember?"

"You can join us, she likes you. Teme, you and Kakashi come too."

"I have to meet the Hokage. Sakura, I'm serious about that jutsu, I'll catch you later," Kakashi said recovering his red eye before disappearing in a whirl of smoke.

"Tell Hinata I said 'hi', Naruto. I have to get back to my lab. You made me blow half a day's progress already," Sakura scolded him.  
"No way. For such a brilliant doctor you don't take very good care of yourself Sakura," He turned to Sasuke, "Teme, you can make sure she has some dinner can't you? I don't want to be late for my date. I don't want her to head back to that cave until she's eaten and slept."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest as Sasuke sighed, "Fine."

'Great,' she reflected bitterly, 'more interrogation.'

Naruto ran off to get ready for his date with the nicest kunochi in Konoha.

"What do you want to eat?" the ebony eyed nin asked her.

"I'm sure you have better things to do then babysit me, Sasuke, and I'm not really hungry anyway," She turned making the hand signs to escape but he grabbed her hand, preventing her.

"Come home with me, I'll make you a sandwich. Naruto won't forgive me if I let you go home to eat crackers," Against her protests he towed her along, wrapping an arm around her waist, giving her no choice. He practically dragged her to the compound and into the tranquil gardens of his home.

He was almost sure by now, since the panic she'd shown during the fight when he'd questioned her, but he wanted to see her reaction to the work done in the compound. Everyone that had seen it thus far had been shocked by the change in the carnage ridden houses.

He watched her closely as they walked into the Uchiha garden, it was as he suspected, there was no surprise in her eyes at the beauty before them. She simply smiled like she had at Naruto in her office, like she was seeing an old friend. The splendor Sasuke had let fade with his mother's death was back. The twilight garden was lit with the gentle glow of solar lanterns and the fountains bubbled peacefully. Moonflowers were opening and the white blossoms appeared to glow in the soft light of dusk.

Sakura behaved as if she's seen it all many times before. He knew why of course, it was his teammate that had devotedly restored his families' grounds. She'd been here so often she was accustomed to the tranquil beauty of his mother's garden. And the small precise writing he'd glimpsed in her office and kitchen table, which had looked familiar, was the same as the ledgers kept in his office. He knew now, but he still wasn't sure how he felt about it.

Should he be happy it was her, or mad that she'd lied about it. She was the one who'd restored the grounds, the cherry blossom the gardener had hinted at, the one Kakashi and Tsunade had protected, it all made sense now.

The Good Samaritan.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, his voice unusually thick with emotion, anger, mistrust, and beneath that, a sadness that she was so wary of him. Did she really think he would hate her for what she'd done?

"What are you-" she began before they were interrupted by a loud annoying voice.

"Sasuke-kun!!! I've been waiting so long. Your dinner is ready," She spun around to Sakura "What are you doing here?" She sneered.

"I suppose you'll want some too. Here," the woman shoved a rice ball at Sakura before returning to hang all over Sasuke trying to feed him. Sakura blushed and Sasuke did nothing but stand there, still waiting to hear an answer to his question.

Karen began to whine when he wouldn't eat and finally Sasuke spoke, "Go," he ordered the redhead. She pouted prettily before giving Sakura a dirty look and handing Sasuke the plate of onigiri. Whirling she flounced off in a huff.

Not knowing what to say or do next Sakura set her onigiri back on the plate. She walked over to the koi pond to see the fish and avoid looking at Sasuke. Watching them swim she gave a small smile.

"You named them didn't you?" he smirked at the thought of her doing something so silly, it was just like something the girl he knew would do.

She nodded, "Yes, but I didn't catch them, Suzuki-san did. The orange one is Naruto of course, the white one with the black covering half his face is Kakashi, and the black one is…Sasuke." She finished with a whisper.

"Why would you do all that, no one asked you."

That came out sounding much harsher then he'd meant for, "Sakura, I…"

"I didn't do it for you," She interrupted him. "I did it for myself, for purely selfish reasons."

"What?" he looked confused.

"To clear my conscious for letting you go away."

"You had no choice in that," he argued, "it was my decision."

"Yes, but I was at fault too, I was so weak. I didn't know how to help my friend," she sighed, "When I started the cleaning it made me feel like I could finally do something to make up for how I failed you."

"That's crazy, it doesn't even make sense."

"Love rarely does Sasuke," She said so quietly Sasuke was sure she hadn't meant for him to hear, but he'd heard.

She loved him.

He turned to look at her but she'd turned away.

She was watching the koi swim in the water. She gestured over her shoulder with one hand towards his house, "Look at your current girlfriend. She's crazy jealous and willing to do anything for you."

"She's not my girlfriend, she's a teammate. They are all here with me because their homes were destroyed," He picked up the onigiri Sakura had set down on the plate.

"Don't eat that one," the med-nin warned, "it's drugged.'

He looked at her, realizing with the shock of anger that she was right. Karen would never offer another girl food she'd made for him. She must have sensed them coming here. It pissed him off that she never let up on him. Clinging to him, no matter how many times he'd told her he wasn't interested in her romantically.

Karen overheard Sakura from the house and growled at being caught trying to feed her poison. That pink bitch, acting like a know it all, touching her Sasuke-kun.

"I was your team mate too, once," Sakura said sadly.

"You still are."

She shook her head.

"Yes you are, Sakura!"

She went on as if she couldn't hear him, "I asked to come with you, and you turned me down. I followed you and you threw me away, and then you chose her to take with you," She heard a happy gasp coming from the house. Of course Karin had heard, Sasuke would have let her listen in, just to punish Sakura.

A familiar ache came to her heart.

He stared. That was completely wrong. That's not what he'd done; he kept the people he cared for safe from his brother by pushing them away from him. He saw her flinch when she heard a noise from the house.

"It's ok, Sasuke," She'd dropped the familiar 'kun' she'd always used and it hurt his heart, "I've gotten over it, you made it crystal clear the last time we met before you killed Itachi. I might have a thick skull, but it finally came through loud and clear."

It? She'd gotten over it? What it? "Your wrong, that's…"

"Goodbye, Sasuke." Before he could blink she made three hand signs and slowly disappeared in a whirl of cherry blossoms. As the petals scattered across the grass their scent was heavy in the air. It was this scent the old man had told him of, the sweet smell of his Sakura.

"No…" he protested quietly, but she was already gone and he had no idea of where to look for her. No idea of how to convince her of his true purpose for her. She made him feel things he never expected to feel again in his life. When he left he had told himself he was breaking all ties with the people in his life, but he'd lied to himself. The red string of fate had refused to be cut when it came to his team. They had not given up on him, even when it was a bother. He still found deep down he'd been pleased that those bonds were still there. They would never be gone, no matter what her heart told her.

Sighing he went into his house. He ignored Karin's annoying singsong chatter and went into his office to think. She came clamoring in with the plate of onigiri minus the tainted one, he turned to her coldly.

" Why did you try to hurt Sakura?"

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A/N-Two more chapters to go. I'm starting a new sasxsak fic called White Elephant Christmas plus a couple of Akatsuki fics to follow, I hope you'll check em out too. I see many have put this story on favs, but only a few wonderful reviewers.

My thanks go to them. K&K


	7. Chapter 7 I Just Want to Make You Happy

I do not own Naruto.

The Good Samaritan

Chapter 7 I Just Want to Make You Happy

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Sasuke was angry at Karin.

"You tried to drug Sakura."

She pouted, "That pink haired bitch isn't worthy of you Sasuke-kun."

"Don't call me that," He warned her, "Do you know why I pushed Sakura away for so long?" he asked.

Karin didn't answer.

"I wanted to keep her safe,"he looked her in the eye, "she's precious to me."

Karin threw the plate of food, it smashed against the wall, rice and splintered ceramic flying, "NO! You're mine!"

The look he gave her was full of malice.

"Never, for one minute did I consider you as anything more than a tool for my revenge. I told you I wasn't interested in you, right from the beginning. Still, you insisted on insinuating yourself into more than your place. You can leave Konoha, or stay at the compound, I don't care, but stay away from me from now on."

He turned away from her and switched his attention to the work on his desk. He'd let her stay along with the others after his brother was dead. They had been loyal to him and he had room for them all to stay comfortably and make their own home. The others had no problem becoming incorporated into the village but Karin refused to have anything to do with any one other then team Hebi.

He should have seen this coming.

She screamed at him like an animal, pushing a pile of books off the file cabinet onto the floor on her way out. He sighed and went to pick them up.

The largest book he picked up didn't look familiar to him. Flipping it over he saw the words 'my family' inscribed on the cover. He opened it, and was surprised to discover it was filled with many pictures and little mementos from each family in the clan, each carefully arranged on the pages. She must have found them as she cleaned. Little facts were written next to some, these must have been gleaned from the backs of the pictures. Page after page of his family's past filled his vision, but it didn't hurt so much anymore. The smiling faces in many pictures brought back good memories of the people he'd lost. He couldn't hate any of them anymore for the politics that had pulled them apart. He was done hating; all he could remember was their love and the pride they had felt as a clan.

As he came to the last pages he saw they were blank, waiting to be filled with his mother and father and, yes, even his brother. It would be painful but it would be healing too. She had known it was up to him to complete it.

He set the book down and covered his face tiredly with his hands.

'God, what had he done to deserve the love she'd given him, so unselfishly,' he puzzled.

He'd hurt her over and over and she'd been patient and kind, never asking in return. Now, when he wanted nothing more than to pull her close, to thank her, never let her go, she'd been crushed again. He was flawless with a sword, but when it came to her he did nothing but make mistakes. He had called her weak for years, but he was really the weak one.

The fool.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Karin was fuming. Nothing had gone the way she wanted since coming to this stupid village. Sasuke was always too busy to spend any time with his team unless they were training and he always, always ignored her.

It was that stupid pink bitches fault. Thinking she was all that, just because she was a doctor and the Hokage's apprentice. The cunt had finally got it tonight when she'd admitted to Sasuke that he had chosen her, Karin, over the precious blossom. Sasuke had not seen it her way, but Karin had. Then he'd told her that tripe about Sakura being his precious person.

She growled and bitched nonsensically while she strapped her long knife sheath onto her leg. She pulled the glittering blade and smiled at it lovingly. Sasuke had bought it for her, it was only fitting she use it to dispose of the meddling cunt.

Karin was truly superior at controlling her chakra. Even Sakura, who had amazing control, had nothing on her. Karin could find anyone she wanted using her chakra and right now she wanted Sakura. To make her experience the same pain that Sasuke had made Karin feel in that office not 20 minutes ago. A knife in her heart.

Karin followed Sakura's chakra out of Konoha, west into the fields of wildflower and the dark forest beyond as Sakura literally, ran away from her feelings. Sakura was distracted by her pain and Karin had expertly masked her own chakra.

Sakura never saw her coming.

0o0o0

0o0o0

As she lay bleeding, dying, Sakura heard Karin's last cruel words before the blackness took her soul. The girl didn't want to believe Sasuke felt that way, but somewhere deep down it all made sense.

"_He's annoyed by you, he hates you. He's always hated you and your stupid interfering in his life and now you've desecrated his family's home. Sasuke-kun loves only me. When you're dead, he'll be happy."_

All Sakura ever wanted was to make him happy.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sasuke saw Karin sneak into the compound and slip into her house, she was covered with blood. He soon found out none of it was her own.

"What have you done?"

Karin's grin was feral, "What's the matter Sasuke-kun? Did your little cherry blossom run away?"

"Where is she?" his aura was corpse-like, black and cold.

"You're too late," the blood soaked girl beamed, "that bitch is dead by now."

He slapped her and she laughed bitterly.

"Where is she?" He shook her hard, wanting to kill her but he had to know, "Where is Sakura?"

"Tch," the jealous kunochi grunted irritatingly, "In the forest west of Konoha,"

He let go of her and she blocked his path taunting him mockingly, "Your precious Sakura is gone and I'm leaving this dump too. You can throw a flower on her casket for me too," She tapped a finger against her chin in thoughtful contemplation, "Something with feeling," her laughter was carefree, "Marigolds will do."*

Sasuke pushed her out of his way and ran for the west gate as if chased by the hounds of hell. He was desperate to find Sakura.

When he reached the forest he pushed outwards with his consciousness searching for a sign of her.

There, about a half mile away, he felt a flicker of her chakra signature. Like a shadow that never touched the ground he raced to the clearing where she lay broken on the ground. She'd been stabbed more times than he could count.

He feared to handle her fragile, blood soaked form.

"God Sakura," his voice broke, "why didn't you fight back?"

She was dying, her life flickering like a candle flame. Frantically, he pushed his chakra into her, to sustain her, and felt that flame puff out.

"SAKURA!" he shouted.

'Not again'

"Sakura" he whispered his voice thick with fear as he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

'Not again.'

Flashes of his parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, all lying lifeless in the streets and homes of the Uchiha district made him flinch.

The anguished boy held her secure in his arms, "Please," he prayed, "don't give up on me yet."

0o0o0

0o0o0o0

*A/N-marigolds in the language of flowers signify cruelty, jealousy, and hate.

Yep, it fits Karin to a T, ne?


	8. Ch 8 Don't Wanna Go Through the Motions

Do not own Naruto

Last Chapter. It's been fun writing this. I have a few new fanfics I'm putting up this week too. Check them out. K&K.

Please, if you haven't done it yet, at the end, review this fic.

0o0o0

The Good Samaritan

Chapter 8-I Don't Want to Go Through the Motions

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura slowly opened her eyes to the familiar harsh glint of the hospital fluorescents.

Normally she wasn't on her back to see them. 'When had they become so bright?' she wondered. Shifting to a more comfortable position the med-nin felt the tight pull of newly healed skin along her back.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a silver flash.

_Karin-_

Suddenly she was reminded of the flash of...

_-light reflected off the knife._

…the knife.

_The searing pain, the scrape of knife against bone, the harsh sound of…breathing… screaming…madness._

As it came down slicing heavily into her back

_Again and again._

She remembered Karin's words to her before she left her there to die.

"_He hates you. He's always hated you and your stupid interfering in his life and now you've desecrated his family's home..."_

"_When you're dead, he'll be happy."_

All Sakura had ever wanted was to make Sasuke happy.

The first strike of the knife had been well placed between her shoulders, knocking her to the ground, severing her spine. After that she'd been helpless to stop her.

Or was it she simply didn't care to?

A sharp pang squeezed her chest as she remembered her words to Sasuke before she left him alone for good.

"_I asked to come with you, and you turned me down. I followed you and you threw me away, and then you chose her to take with you… It's ok, Sasuke. I've gotten over it; you made it crystal clear the last time we met before you killed Itachi. I might have a thick skull, but it finally came through loud and clear. Goodbye Sasuke."_

At least she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore, she thought sadly.

Tsunade finished shooting meds into her IV and removed the silver needle. Seeing her apprentice was awake she smiled and sat on the edge of her bed. "It's about time you woke up. You've been sleeping for three days."

"Karin?" Sakura asked

"Dead," Tsunade said flatly.

"Who?" She hated to ask who had killed the mentally unstable redhead.

"Hunter-nin, but I would have liked to kill her myself," her Shisou admitted, "She was dead before you were out of surgery," Sakura nodded in understanding.

"You have bigger things to worry about," Tsunade frowned.

The young girl looked at her leader, uncomprehendingly.

"I warned you not to get caught by the Uchiha," Tsunade admonished her, "Now you're in a world of trouble. The council wants to prosecute you for trespassing and theft and destruction in the Uchiha compound."

"No way, I didn't take anything..."

"Except food and clothing donations," Tsunade corrected her. "The fact remains you took something and without permission. They will split hairs to prosecute and technically, they are right."

"Uugghh!" she groaned.

"I told you, no good deed goes unpunished Sakura-chan. Now the shit has hit the fan and you are in the middle of this mess. Unless the Uchiha stands up for you-you are going down for this one."

She got up and brushed the hair out of the astonished apprentice's eyes, "Make nice with the brat and you might get out of this alive."

"No, this can't be happening to me," Sakura moaned into her hands, "How did they find out?"

"Apparently Karin talked a lot while they were attempting to capture her alive. When she attacked them in an effort to escape they had to put her down. The hunter-nin had to report the commotion back to the council and the councilmen have acted without waiting to see if Sasuke Uchiha wants to press charges," She explained.

"Technically in the original mission report you were working without permission and since no Uchiha was in Konoha at the time the council has decided it has the right to prosecute you."

"And seeing as you're my apprentice and they hate me… Well, let's just say they are killing two birds with one stone. The only way out of this is if Sasuke comes through and says he asked you to do the work in his stead."

"Oh my God! I'm going to jail!" Sakura wailed.

"Don't worry, if worse comes to worse, Kakashi can get you out of Konoha for a few years. You can live in Suna or Waterfall."

"Become a missing nin?!"

"Now, now, it's not as bad as it sounds," Tsunade comforted her

"What doesn't sound bad about being in bingo books and getting hunted by ninja for the bounty on your head?"

Tsunade tapped her lip, "Perhaps Jariaya would take you traveling with him."

"THE PERVERT!?" she shrieked, "Oh God! My life is over," Pictures of life on the run with the pervy sage flashed through her mind. A life full of bars and brothels.

"Not," Tsunade reminded her, "if you get Sasuke on your side. He can't be that unhappy about what you did, can he?"

"My life is over,"Sakura moaned into her pillow.

"No good deed goes…"

"Just shut UP!"

"Ok, ok. You can go as soon as you feel up to it. I have checked you inside and out, and, in spite of your life being over, you'll live. Take it easy for a couple more days. No work, no training."

"Whatever."

The slug princess smiled, closing the door. Sakura didn't know what happened in the last three days, Tsunade wasn't going to tell her.

About the way Uchiha had brought her to the hospital in a panic, begging them to save her.

How he now had a huge black eye because he had burst into Tsunade's office and dragged her screaming at him to the hospital without explaining why he needed her.

Idiot, had he only mentioned Sakura, he wouldn't be sporting that shiner.

How the boy had sat beside Sakura during surgery, refusing to leave, putting on scrubs to remain close to her, speaking in her ear and telling her she had to stay by his side forever, that they were both tied by the red string of fate.

No one in that surgery breathed a word of it, touched by his sincerity.

They had all been amazed an Uchiha had that kind of sentiment. After surgery he had sat here for the last three days holding her hand. Leaving only once to report what had happened to hunter-nins. He knew nothing of the plans of the council, or surely he would have put them in their place by now. All he cared for was to see Sakura open her eyes.

Tsunade had callously ordered him to go home an hour ago.

He was not to return until he had showered and slept for three hours. If he came back before then she promised to have him banned from seeing Sakura. He had looked annoyed and left only after Tsunade assured him Sakura was fine and Tsunade herself would stay with Sakura until he had returned.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura was fuming mad.

'Stupid old council of elders, screwing with her life.'

She got up and put on her thin hospital robe, deciding go to her office in the lab. The med-nin kept spare clothes there, since sometimes, she ended up working all-nighters.

The elevator opened to the labs level and she was met with a welcome sight.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto and Hinata spoke in unison.

"Are you supposed to be out of bed?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I'm cleared to go home," she confided, "I feel fine."

"I'm so glad," Hinata spoke softly, "Tsunade made everyone go back to work earlier but we all wanted to see you too."

"Everyone has been so worried, especially Te-oof," Naruto winced as Hinata elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"What Naruto means to say is everyone will be glad to hear you're ok. We should all get together tomorrow for lunch. I expect you are not to be back at the lab this week right?"

Sakura gave her a funny look. It wasn't like Hinata to go around elbowing her boyfriend.

"Sure, Ichiraku's at noon?"

"You bet, see you later Sakura-chan."

"That was weird," She mumbled to herself as she got dressed in her office and put on her jacket to leave. Her stomach started to hurt but she was sure it had nothing to do with her wounds.

She was dreading talking to Sasuke.

What other choice did she have?

"Missing-nin, with the pervy sage, my ass."

She left the hospital, heading for the far side of town.

0o0o0o0

Sakura walked stiffly into the compound and knocked on Sasuke's door.

There was no answer.

Sighing she walked over to the koi pond and sat down to visit the fish there, they swam gracefully through the water, coming up to touch her fingertips in hopes of a treat when she put them into the water. Their lips tickled the ends of her fingers as they searched for a snack. It was then that she noticed a forth fish in the pond sitting shyly in the corner, 'He must be new to the group,' she thought.

She unwrapping a pack of crackers from her jacket pocket, she crumbled them over the water's surface to coax the new fish out. The promise of dinner over rode its shyness and the new fish finally came out to investigate her offering. Sakura gasped in delight when she saw the color of the fish.

Do you know how long it took me to catch a pink fish?" The deep timbre of the voice at her ear made her shiver.

Her heart slamming into her chest, she turned feeling both the icy hand fear at her neck and a spark of the warmth of hope in her heart.

"Sasuke."

"Did Tsunade give you permission leave the hospital?" he demanded to know.

"Yes, good as new," She smiled awkwardly, thinking of his loss.

"I'm sorry about Karin," she said.

"Sorry? For what? You're sorry she tried to kill you or sorry she didn't succeed?" he lifted a mocking brow at her.

"No, I'm sorry she was killed," Sakura said sympathetically, "She didn't deserve that."

"Yes she did, that and more, and if I had the time I would have done it myself."

"Don't say that," the sad girl pleaded, "she loved you."

"Karin never loved me," he retorted, "she obsessed over an image of power. She didn't know me at all and had no respect for my most precious things."

Sakura didn't understand what he meant so she just nodded.

She took a deep breath, "Sasuke, I have to ask you a huge favor."

She fidgeted, trying both to tell him and wanting to hide at the same time.

"It's about the work I did here," She put her nervousness aside and asked him straight out, "I need your help. I need you to tell the councilmen that you either asked me to do the Uchiha restoration or gave me permission to begin working on it."

He shook his head, "I'm not gonna lie to them."

"B-b-but you don't understand, if you don't they are going to prosecute me! Tsunade is sure I'll go to jail for it, and they're doing it to spite her. She wants me to become a missing Nin!"

"It's not so bad," he teased her, "lots of fresh air. No labs. Well at least none now that Orochimaru is dead."

"Did you just make a joke!?" She put her hands over her face, "My life is over," she cried miserably, "and you think it's funny.

"You know what they say Sakura, 'No good deed…'"

"'goes unpunished'. Yeah, I'm learning that one the hard way. I'm never going to do something nice for anybody ever again," She got up to leave.

"I have to go pack now."

"Sakura," Sasuke's hand on her shoulder brought her to a halt. He pulled her back to face him.

He looked into her sad, pretty eyes, glistening with unshed tears. Tears he never wanted to see again.

It was time to stop punishing her.

"Stay."

"Sasuke, I can't. I told you. They want to put me in jail."

"We can fix this Sakura. If you need evidence of permission to enter the compound, we'll just make it irrefutable."

She observed him carefully, unsure of his meaning.

"I'll make you an Uchiha."

Confusion clouded her bright eyes.

Her heart raced, at what his words might imply, so much she felt lightheaded.

"You'll just have to take my name Sakura."

This time she really did faint.

He caught her to him tightly. When she came around she was held in the protective circle of his arms.

"Sasuke?" she breathed.

"-kun," he added when she forgot. He pressed his lips to her temple.

He touched her chin, tilting it up so he could see her answer in her clear green eyes.

"Stay by my side forever Sakura-chan. Marry me."

Sasuke kissed his girl, he felt like he was finally home.

"Hn." He groaned, finally raising his lips from hers to smile at her.

"I know my family would approve."

_FIN_

_Kaze and Kiba_

_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_

A/N-Well good or bad, that's the end of this one. Thank you, to the people who review and not just favorite without any feedback. I'm starting a new story called Finders Keepers, it has a lot of characters in it but it's mainly a Sak/Sas/Ita fic. Also another called Cat-o-Nine Tails. I have a few more fics almost ready to go up too. My thanks go out to rivenmist for helping me decide which ones first and helping to edit them. I hope you'll check them out. Thanks for sticking to the end of The Good Samaritan. Did you really think I'd kill the hero of my story? Well, I kinda did for a minute there, but it would have sucked if she stayed dead, ne?

Please take a moment to let me know what you think.

Review.

K&K


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